Wall Street still pulling down Korean market
Seoul stocks slid yesterday after U.S. subprime mortgage problems continued to pull down Wall Street last week. The benchmark Kospi closed at 1,855.05, down 21.75 points, or 1.2 percent.On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 2.1 percent after Standard & Poor’s cut the credit outlook of Bear Stearns Cos. due to the investment bank’s exposure to the distressed mortgage market.
This renewed concerns that defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages, which are given to those with poorer credit ratings, might dampen the world’s biggest economy.
“Uncertainties about the U.S. economy are depressing the Seoul stock market,” said Park Seok-hyun, an analyst at Kyobo Securities. “But the fundamentals of the domestic and global economies are not at risk. So the investor selling spree is not likely to continue for long.”
On concerns about a slowdown in the export-hungry U.S., Hyundai Motor, Korea’s biggest car exporter, fell 1.2 percent.
Posco, the world’s fourth-biggest steelmaker, lost 3.4 percent.
In addition, financial shares were also weak on concern that the possible credit crunch in the U.S. might affect the local financial market. Korea’s top lender, Kookmin Bank, declined 2.3 percent. Shinhan Financial Group fell 1.2 percent.
Samsung Card slipped 0.2 percent, though its second-quarter profit jumped more than five times from a year earlier.
Trade volume was 320.5 million shares, valued at 5 trillion won ($5.4 billion). Losing shares outnumbered winners, 545 to 253.
The secondary Kosdaq market declined more moderately. The index closed at 795.85, down 3.01 points or 0.4 percent. The volume was 433.9 million shares worth 1.5 trillion won. Declining shares led advancers, 585 to 339.
By Moon So-young Staff Writer [symoon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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